


Take a Break

by neveralarch



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 05:00:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5526347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neveralarch/pseuds/neveralarch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The hockey rink is dark and empty, but Lardo has the keys.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take a Break

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cadenzamuse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cadenzamuse/gifts).



The hockey rink is dark and empty, but Lardo has the keys. She turns on a couple lights, just enough to see by.

_I don't know, Larissa, what does this really symbolize?_

She laces on her skates, pulls her sweatshirt on to ward off the chill. She clomps out to the ice and then slowly skids onto it.

_Have you really considered the implications of this medium, Miss Duan?_

Lardo isn't good at skating, per se. Actually, she's pretty bad at it. She hugs the railing and totters and nearly falls, but she keeps going.

_Maybe you could do something more traditional, Larissa. Something in ink._

The ice is clean and perfect, except for the erratic scrapes from her skates. Lardo breathes hard, sweating, and pushes herself forward.

_Are you sure?_

The door creaks behind her, and Lardo falls when she tries to turn around. But it's just Shitty, leaning over the rail and offering her his hand.

"I saw the lights on when I was walking by. Everything okay?"

"Just stressed about the art show." Lardo takes Shitty's hand and levers herself up slowly, slipping and sliding until she finally gets her feet under her.

"It's going to be awesome," says Shitty.

"Sure." Lardo's knees are cold where they hit the ice. "Wanna give me another skating lesson?"

Shitty looks at her, considering, and then his face breaks into a smile. "Let me get my skates."

Tomorrow Lardo's going to scrap her latest piece and start over, get the molding right this time. Tomorrow Lardo's going to ignore the critics and figure out what she really wants to do, where the comfortable place between self-indulgence and pandering really is. Tomorrow Lardo's going to make art.

Tonight Lardo holds Shitty's hands in a death-grip and lets him guide her to the center of the ice.


End file.
